


Her First Royal Crush

by Peppermint_Magician_Lynn



Category: Ever After High
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Puppy Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 16:20:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13685304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peppermint_Magician_Lynn/pseuds/Peppermint_Magician_Lynn
Summary: Holly had always known Daring, ever since they were children. And her feelings for him have lasted almost as long.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day (or True Hearts Day if we want to get in the EAH mood). This is a pairing I've wanted to write about for a while, ever since reading "Truth or Hair". Holly mentions being childhood friends with Daring, and when I put that with the crush she's said to have on him I thought "has she liked him since they were kids?" and the thought was so cute, I just had to write about it!

Holly couldn’t say exactly when she had met Daring Charming; to her, it seemed as if he’d always just been there. Their fathers were great friends, having been roommates in Ever After High, so the two families were always interacting and since they were toddlers, Holly had been friends with Daring just the same.

The Daring of those youthful days, though, was a different person than the Daring of recent years. She admired the handsome, chivalrous, heroic teen she saw every day in school but at the same time, she remembered how much she adored the tiny princeling he’d been in their childhood. Even in those years, he was still her hero.

Her sister, Poppy, would always be number one to her and she knew he felt the same about his own younger siblings. But if she was ever to take anyone else into her heart…it would be Daring Charming.

 

She’d noticed the first signs of these feelings for him on the day they’d played “Rapunzel” together. The O’Hair twins had played many games with the Charming children, which ironically included a set of twins as well, and were all great friends, but finding something to play as a group was hard.

Dexter Charming preferred to play games on his father’s phone or read books, which Holly also loved but she still liked having fun in more active ways in the rare opportunities she could play with other kids. Darling was a little more excitable and always up running around, but her mother would scold her so much in their games, it often seemed more work to try than it was worth, so she would retreat to play with Dexter’s games and to keep him company. As for Poppy, while she liked keeping busy, she was easily distracted. The kids would start up on some activity and then discover Poppy had run off to investigate a bee hive or rabbit hole.

All of these occurrences usually just left steadfast Holly and the ever rambunctious Daring to find games to entertain themselves and on this particular day, they decided to play “Rapunzel”.

“Excellent!” her father declared when they had asked his permission and he’d called for the royal carpenter. In no time, a miniature tower was built for the children and despite that the adults had pressed them all to play together, it quickly whittled down to the two eldest.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” Daring shouted, despite that Holly only stood about three feet above him, not high enough to be hurt (her father had made sure of it) and definitely close enough for normal speech, though she wasn’t complaining.

Giggling with excitement, Holly swung her braid over the edge of the window so it lined up beside the rope the carpenter had attached to the tower.

“Okay, I’m gonna climb up,” Daring told her and immediately grabbed for the rope, which was colored to look like Holly’s strawberry-blond hair, and climbed up. Though he did make the innocent observation of “You have very sturdy hair, Rapunzel.”

This made Holly giggle uproariously until his finally reached the window of the tower and she moved back so he could scramble inside. He caught the toe of his shoe on the ledge while coming inside but instead of falling, he caught himself on his hands and swept into a graceful forwards roll, ending in a crouch from which he sprang up and showed his hands. “Tah-Dah! I’m here to save you!”

“Yay!” Holly clapped for him and they smiled at each other. They’d completed the game just like in the fairytale. They made a good team! But then, a thought struck them.

“Um, how are we going to get down?” she asked him. This brought a look of confusion to his own cherub face.

“Umm,” he hummed, thinking hard. “I don’t know. I stopped listening to the story after this big part.” It was true. While Nanny Nona had finished up reading them the book, both Daring and Poppy had fled to find the snacks in the kitchen, neither of them were as happy about books as their siblings. “How did your dad get down?”

“Nanny’s story said the prince fell from the tower and became blind,” she answered, “but my mom said they used her hair to get down. I don’t really know how they did that, though.”

“Maybe they cut it off,” he suggested. “But we shouldn’t cut your hair, though. Your mom might get upset.”

“Yes, we need to figure out another way.”

Together, they sat down on the wooden floor and pondered this dilemma, trading ideas back and forth but not finding anything that really made sense for the story. By now, they were both so absorbed in their imaginations, they had forgotten it was all really a game, ignoring the adults only a small ways away that they could have called for assistance if they wanted out. Or even the staircase by which Holly had entered the tower to begin with. To break their roles would be like a defeat and no Charming (and by association, O’Hair) would ever walk away from a story beaten.

“This is too hard,” Daring pouted. “If we were mountain climbing, I could use my ropes and hooks to get us down. But they don’t use those in Rapunzel.”

“You do mountain climbing?” Holly asked, her eyes lighting up. She’d read a book about that before.

“Yep,” Daring nodded, his face glowing as he smiled proudly. “Me and Dex climbed up the Ogre Mountain last year. We had some trouble and Dex had to stop half ways up, but I made it all the way to the top and planted the Charming flag there. No one else had ever done that.”

“Wow!” Holly clapped again. Daring did such brave things. She would never want to climb up such a scary mountain; she didn’t like high places and ogres were said to be pretty unfriendly. But that was okay. She preferred sharing stories rather than living them, anyways.

“Oh, I know,” Daring exclaimed, rising to his feet. “We can jump!”

“Jump?” Holly gasped, eyes wide. “But we’re a hundred feet off the ground. We can’t jump!”

“Yeah we can,” Daring pressed. “I’m a really good jumper. I can jump down from my bedroom window at my castle and not even get hurt. I can jump down from here.”

“But…but how will _I_ get down?” Holly’s eyes began to water at the thought of being left all alone.

“I can catch you,” Daring declared, smiling brightly. “I’ll go out and you jump and I’ll catch you.”

“Really?

The prince nodded. “Yep. Wait here and I’ll go first.”

With that, he swung his legs out the window and peered down. “Wow, it’s a long way,” he said, still pretending. “We might get eaten by lions down there.”

“Be careful!”

He turned to look at her and as he did, the sun of afternoon came it and lit up his gold hair like a halo of light that winked off his princely crown. He gave a wink before he pushed himself off the ledge and dropping to the ground. She heard a thump and ran to look out. Sure enough, Daring had survived the distance in falling to the ground and immediately hopped up like it was nothing. He turned and smiled up at her. “Now you jump!” he said, holding his arms out. “And I can catch you. I‘m good at catching, too!”

Holly gulped, not liking to do risky things, but she trusted Daring. So she went to sit on the edge and looked down. It wasn’t really that high off the ground, but she still felt a little anxious at the height. But Daring was there, smiling up at her while he held out his arms for her to jump into. He was a hero, right? So he would definitely catch her and she wouldn’t get hurt. She trusted him. He would be her hero.

She closed her eyes and pushed off.

Holly only let out a small squeak before she landed on something warm. But the world wasn’t rushing anymore and as she opened her eyes, she saw Daring’s face as he was still smiling at her. She blinked and tried to move, but she was being held up into the air. He had caught her!

“Yay!” she shouted, clapping. “You caught me!”

“Yep,” he agreed and put her down.

Unfortunately, the young hero hadn’t yet learned to be gentle with ladies, so rather than lower her down like a charming prince, he just pulled his arms away and let her drop to the grass like a stone.

What were a few grass marks between friends?

 

“Daring…” The boy looked up from his snack, still holding a slice of orange in his fingers. Holly, sitting beside him at the O’Hair dinning table and close enough to whisper while the other kids and adults conversed, looked down to her lap.

“What?” he asked her.

“If I…if I ever got stuck in the tower for real, would you come and help me?” she asked, her face feeling warm as she waited for his answer.

“Yes,” was the short reply. She peeked over at him and he was smiling again. “When I get big, I’m gonna save lots of princesses for all of the stories in the world. So I’ll be sure to save you, too.”

“Really? You’ll save all of the princesses?” she asked, her eyes widening as she thought about that. She’d read a lot of stories in her free time and from what she knew, there were tons of princesses in the world. “You’re gonna save Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella and Snow White, even?”

“Yep,” he answered matter-of-factly, still eating his fruit. “So if I hear that you’re stuck in the tower, I’ll come to help you get out.”

“What if you’re busy trying to help someone else, like Snow White?”

He paused to consider such a scenario, then answered, “Then I’ll get Dex to finish it. I’ll be sure to save you, though. Because you’re my friend.”

Such a declaration meant a lot to her. He would come help her, even above Snow White? Really? He was so great.

He was…her hero.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> March 14th is White Day in Japan (right?) and like a follow-up to valentines day. So, its a good day to provide a follow-up to this fiction with its second half.

“Help!” Holly called out, rattling the door handle desperately. “Poppy! Nanny Nona! Help me!”

But no matter how she fought against it, the door remained stuck. Why? All she’d wanted was to get the present she’d left up in her tower and the door just closed behind her. This _always_ seemed to happen. That was why most of the doors in their castle were always left open so she wouldn’t be stuck in places. Her father had had all the locks on the closets and pantries removed just so she wouldn’t get trapped and kept a master key on a chain around her neck so she could get out. He put more trust in her to use it wisely than he would for Poppy.

But that key didn’t work for the room in the tower and now she was stuck! Worse, she had left her MirrorPhone downstairs so she couldn’t even text her sister to get her out.

Defeated, she went over to the window of the room and peaked over the side, but there was no one there that could hear her. Everyone else was in the dining room enjoying the party. She was alone now.

Whimpering, she went over the desk they kept up there for her lessons and sat down. It wasn’t that she was adverse to being in the tower or to the atmosphere of “trapped” that it gave off. That was why she spent so much time up there: to grow accustomed to that feeling just like her mother did. But she wasn’t prepared to be up there, especially without her books or MirrorPad or anything to keep her occupied. Her mom had promised that when she got to go to Ever After High, she could take a class that would teach her what to do when you get stuck in places, like how to wait and not be so bored. That sounded very useful, but right now, she didn’t know how to do that.

So instead, she sat there and just felt sorry for herself. Oh, how she wished this really was her story happening because then she would at least know that someone would come to get her. Her parents always said that Fairytale Magic was strong and so no matter what trouble she found herself in, she would always be able to come out safely if she trusted in destiny.

But where was her Prince Charming now when she needed him, even if it was just an accident?

“…!”

What was that sound? She perked up and she listened hard.

“Holly!”

Someone was calling her name. She flew to the opened window and called down, “I’m here!”

“There you are,” the voice continued and once she could recognize the voice, she felt a blush rising to her face. Below, standing in the castle courtyard and looking up the base of the tower, was Daring. When he saw her face, he smiled up at her, his gleaming teeth brightening the surrounding area to which Holly quickly threw her hands against her eyes. He’d only developed the skill to blind people with that smile a few months ago, but now it didn’t seem to go away. Maybe he could figure out how to control it when he started Ever After High this year? “What are you doing up there!”

“Daring, thank goodness!” she gushed, glad to see his handsome face, or anyone’s face, really. “I was worried everyone was still at Mothers’ party!”

“They are. I just stepped out for a little bit,” he answered.

“Then how did you find me?” she asked, but, even from this distance, she noticed his face becoming red with embarrassment as he looked away, not meeting her eyes.

“No reason, really,” he answered, distracted. “Just decided to take a walk. And then I heard you shouting.”

“I got stuck up here; the door is closed!” she leaned out. “I was trying to get the gift for Mother, but the door locked behind me. I’m trapped!”

“I’ll go get your dad.”

“No, don’t!” she shouted, stopping him midstride. “I wasn’t supposed to come up here all alone and if you tell him, I’ll get in trouble. Especially since I didn’t bring my phone with me like he told me to.”

“Well then,” Daring paused, pondering for a moment then striking a heroic pose. “I’ll have to get you down myself.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, if you let down your hair, I can climb up and get you down.”

“But I can’t do that!” she said, tearing up. “My hair is too short. I had it cut for the party so I could go dancing. It will never reach you.”

“Oh,” Daring frowned. He thought again, then a smile took over his face. “I know what to do. I’ll be right back!” And with that he took off running.

Holly watched him go, eyes wide with surprise. “Daring! Where are you going?”

“I’ll be back. Trust me!”

Really, did she have any choice but to trust him?

After a few minutes of waiting that felt like eternity, Holly heard a noise from the window and went to look out. There, at the base of the tower, Daring had returned, swinging something around on a rope, so fast she couldn’t tell what it was. “Get back from the window!” he shouted up to her and obediently, she backed up to the opposite wall. There was a sound of whirling window and suddenly, an object came hurling through the window, clattering to the floor. It was a shovel and attached to it was a rope.

She looked back down to Daring.

“Now, take the rope off the shovel and tie it to something!” he told her.

She nodded, a smile spreading across her face now that she knew he hadn’t really left her. She swiftly undid his loose not from the gardening equipment and after a quick look around, attached it to the decorative lattice of a bookshelf, being sure to tie it securely for whatever he might have been planning, glad that she learned about tying knots from her mother. She returned to the window. “Okay. It’s tied.”

“Alright,” Daring shouted back. “Now you just need to climb down the rope.”

Holly faltered. “Huh? Me?”

“Yeah. Just swing down. No problem.” The gleam from his grin reaching her all the way up the tower. He clearly thought this was a good idea.

Holly would disagree.

“I…I can’t,” Holly shouted back. “I’m don’t like heights, Daring. I can’t climb down. Especially not in a dress.”

“You can’t?” he question. He paused to think, then declared. “That’s fine. I’m gonna come up there.”

He grabbed the rope in his hands, looking up the tower as if making judgments of its size, and gave a tug on the rope to see how well it would hold and Holly was glad she’d picked the bookcase to anchor it. That would hold up the weight of three Darings. Pleased with its strength, the prince planted one sneakered foot against the worn stone bricks and began to climb.

Holly had never watched anyone climbing like this, looking down from on top of the structure. She’d seen her father practice his climbing skills but she was always on the ground then. This was an oddlty pleasant experience. She was still not pleased being in the tower, still felt the slight wobbly feeling of being up so high, but it eased some when her eyes were focused on Daring’s face instead of the ground. Of all the people she’d met, she had never seen anyone who looked as handsome as Daring Charming. His brother Dexter was a close second, especially when he wasn’t wearing his glasses, but there was just something about Daring that had been enchanting since he was just a small child.

And seeing him now, coming up the tower as a hero, coming to her rescue, Holly felt her heart patter away the closer he got.

Finally, after what felt to her like a millennium and an instant, Daring planted his Charming-signature sneakers up on the sill of the window and swung himself in. The moonlight lit up the gold of his crown.

“Huzzah,” Daring declared as his stepped down into the room she used for her school studies. He took a moment to brush off the moss and dust from his black sleeves, adjusting the placement of his diamond pattered sweater vest across his chest. Perhaps it was a part of his being handsome but even though he had an affinity for sweater vests overtop button-down shirts, she found they looked better on him than they would on anyone else their age. “When I get to Ever After High, I hope I get to wear a cool letterman jacket like my dad did. He says those are dirt resistant.”

“I’m, um, sure you will,” Holly stuttered. Which was odd because though she really liked Daring, she had never had issues talking to him before. They were always perfectly comfortable with one another, since they were so much alike.

“Well anyways,” he turned towards her and, placing his hands on his hips, struck a heroic pose and gave her another smile. “I’m here to recue you, Princess Holly!”

Holly clapped her hands in appreciation. “How are you going to get me out? Will you pick the lock on the door?”

“Nope,” Daring shook his head. “I haven’t learned about dungeon escapes yet. So we’re going to have to go out the window. “

Holly blanched, her hands stilling. “We’re…you mean we’re going to…jump?”

“That’s right,” Daring said, taking in some of the rope so he could examine it for breaks. “We’re going to propel down and then later on, come back to get the rope. No one will ever know we were here.”

“But, Daring, I can’t do that. I’m…in a skirt.”

“So? “ Daring looked at her, eyebrow raised. “My cousins do this kind of thing in dresses all the time. That’s how they practice getting rescued. Don’t other princesses do that, too?”

“No,” Holly shook her head. “I’ve just practiced waiting for someone to come save me. I never have to get up here myself.”

“That’s...not a lot of fun,” Daring said after a long moment. He looked down to the rope in his hand, not sure what he was supposed to do now that that idea was rejected. Seeing the stumped expression on his face, Holly felt anxiety returning. She didn’t want be stuck up here in this tower all night, even if she was with Daring. She wanted to show her mother the special gift she’d made and eat cake and see the other princesses, and…

“I’ve got it,” Daring declared, snapping his fingers in realization. “We’ll do it together!”

“Huh?”

“I’ll hold onto you and we can propel ourselves down at the same time. Then you won’t have to feel afraid.”

“Can you…do that?” Holly stared. She’d never heard of twin rope climbing before. “Can you hold me this high up?”

“Of course,” Daring nodded. “I’ve carried my cousins around a lot so I’m strong enough. I’ll admit I’ve never tried climbing down with a princess, but I’m sure we can do this fine.”

“I…I don’t…”

“Holly,” she turned to him at the sound of his voice and saw the hurt look on his face. “Don’t you think I can do it?”

Did she think he could? She wasn’t sure. He said he’d never tried it and she certainly didn’t want them to get hurt if something went wrong. But then again, when had something ever gone wrong when she was with Daring? There were things that didn’t go as planned, things that were complicated in the attempt, but they had always managed to turn it around in the end. He had never let her down before. Why would this time be different?

“Yes,” she declared, being sure to put as much confidence in her voice as she felt in her heart. “I do think you can do it. I believe in you.”

He smiled. Not the big toothed grin he liked to do, but one that was soft and appreciative. Not many people knew it, but Daring had easily bruised feelings. He was a lot more sensitive than he led on.

“Alright then,” he continued, going back to the rope. “I just need to give us some slack and then we can do it.”

“Okay. Oh, I almost forgot,” Holly rushed back to the desk and picked up the wrapped present she had come for in the first place. It would have been horrible to come all the way back and forget it there. She tucked it into the magically-expansive pocket of her party dress. “I’m ready to go.”

“As am I,” Daring said. His arm was wrapped tightly in coils of the rope while the other he held out to her. Nervously, she moved close and following his instructions, wrapped her arms across his shoulders while he in turn put his arm around her waist to support her.

“Don’t let go,” he warned her and took a step onto the window ledge, pulling her up with him. Together, they looked down at the ground and Holly leaned in closer to him, pressing her nose against his shoulder and breathing deeply through her mouth to settle her nerves.

“Count of three, we jump together,” he said. “1…2…3!”

Holly scrunched her eyes closed as Daring tipped them forwards. Her legs jolted upwards to clench her knees around him, too.

The downward drop was smooth at first until there was a jerk where Daring had attached the rope to himself, now pulled taut. For a moment, they hung suspended in the air. Holly felt stuck in the middle of this strange space, feeling the pull of gravity except from where she was touching Daring. He had told the truth. He hadn’t let her fall.

His arm around her waist pulled her just a bit closer and she hesitantly opened her eyes to see him. He was looking at her and giving a comforting, encouraging smile before he let his hand off of the rope and they started to slide down.

The drop was fast but not as much as she’d expected, since Daring braced his legs against the stones to control the decent. Even so, the dropping altitude made her feel woozy, like an elevator that went too fast. She still had her eyes opened, too shocked to close them, and looked around. The trees on the ground of O’Hair Castle weren’t particularly tall but as she found herself falling out of the sky, Holly appreciated how their autumn colors revealed by the moonlight blended with the night sky, like water colors someone had streaked a brush through. The air whipping past felt like it was rising up from her feet, brushing through her hair like cold fingers, contrasting the warmth of Daring as he kept hold of her.

She’d never felt more afraid and safe and exhilarated in her life.

The moment came to an all too sudden end as they finally neared the end of the rope. Slowing down, Daring clenched the rope in his hand and halted their descent to only a few feet off the ground.

“Hang on,” he told her once more and she complied, eager to see what he would do next. Daring swung his legs back and forth until the two teens were swinging on the end of the rope. Holly felt the stone bump against her back when they got close and how Daring’s legs balled up underneath him so he could rest the soles of his shoes against the stone. Then, in a rush of motion, Daring propelled them outward and let go of the rope. She didn’t think it was possible to hold onto him any tighter, but Daring brought his remaining arm to hook under her legs, holding her up in his arms even as they sailed through the air and turned a slow roll upside down.

On the descent, he righted them and finally dropped to the earth, feet first with Holly cradled to his chest.

“Huzzah,” he said, though quieter than the last time. “I’ve successfully rescued you.”

And he had.

 

The entire adventure in the tower had lasted shorter than she’d thought and, remarkably, they made it back to the party just as the musicians were preparing for the first dance. Heads turned towards them as they entered but Holly, with her arm wrapped around Daring’s, didn’t let the attention shake her. She was a princess, being the center of attention was just a part of her job, and unlike her sister Poppy, she kind of liked the admiration of others.

“Where have you been?” King O’Hair asked as he approached, looking at the two questioningly. Had he noticed moss stains on Daring’s clothes or a wind-swept look in Holly’s hair? The two had given one another a look over before they returned. No one should have found any evidence of their brief venture.

“Just, um, looking at the stars, Father,” Holly mention. Beside her, Daring tensed, probably uncomfortable with lying but the truth wouldn’t be wise here. “The constellations are very clear tonight and I wanted to show Daring all the pretty ones.”

“Really,” King O’Hair raised an eyebrow. Holly supposed she couldn’t blame him for his suspicions, considering how often she and her twin played tricks on their parents. “And what constellations, pray tell, could you see?”

“Uh…” Holly blanked, nothing coming to her mind. Astronomy was not her best subject.

“The Great Lion and Sword of North.” The princess and the king turned to Daring who was looking at the man with a tense grin. “You can really see the angle of the mane from this region. At…at least that’s what _Holly_ told me. When we went to see them together.”

Holly blinked but when her father turned to her for confirmation, she nodded and joined Daring in giving innocent smiles. He looked between them but their excuse seemed to have made sense, as he nodded and walked back to the party, trusting the two to follow after.

As soon as his and the other eyes of the room left them, the teens sighed with relief. They’d done it. Still linked in arms, they properly entered the ballroom and Holly whispered to him, “How did you know about the right constellations?”

Daring flinched and after looking to her, he quickly avoided his gaze. “Oh, look, there’s Apple.”

“Apple White?” Holly gasped and immediately turned her eyes to wherever he was looking. Sure enough, Apple White stood at the far end of the room chatting with Darling. The daughter of Snow White was as fair and beautiful as Holly had heard of and despite that they had met several times before, she never grew any less amazed whenever she was in the room with her. Or any other famous fairytale characters.

Apple looked up then and after seeing them, she waved a goodbye to Darling and walked toward them. Holly had never seen anyone so graceful before. Except, maybe Duchess Swan for the few times they’d interacted. She always walked like she was dancing, which was super beautiful and…

“Hello, Holly. Hi, Daring,” the future queen of the realms greeted them both. She somehow manage to be both formal ad friendly when she spoke. “This party has been very beautiful. The dancing will start up soon.”

“Yes, it will,” Daring nodded. “I suppose we shall share a dance.”

“Oh,” Apple raised a dainty hand to her mouth. “I’m sorry, Daring. I already promised a few other people I’d dance with them first. They were all so excited to ask me, I couldn’t possibly have turned them down.”

“That’s fine,” Daring waved away casually. “I understand.”

“Great,” Apple giggled, then turned back to the previous conversation. “I’ll come find you later after the others.”

While Daring waved her off, Holly felt the uncomfortable squirming of emotions inside of her chest. She always liked seeing Apple in any royal functions and that went double when she and Daring could both make it, but she couldn’t help the little feeling of displeasure that took up her thoughts when the two would discuss their duties. It was an unofficial engagement, as they insisted. They were meant to share a story and eventually marry, but since they didn’t want to act like they were engaged, they never really dated. Nevertheless, they still did “couple things” like dance together. It was confusing to Holly and a great many other people, but the two enjoyed their decision, so it wasn’t really her job to judge them.

The music began to play and as other couples glided to the dance floor, Holly saw her parents entering the center with all attention revolving around the birthday-Queen. Others were there too, including Poppy who had paired up with Dexter, probably with pressuring from their parents. Seeing them dance reminded Holly of times long past.

“Princess.” She glanced up when Daring disengaged himself from her arm, then blinked when he bowed and offered his hand. “May I ask for this dance?”

Holly grinned and without a second thought, placed her hand in his. “I would love to.”

Together, they also took the dance floor and once again there were many eyes on them. She knew that most were the princesses and female servers looking at Daring. The boys in the room had their eyes towards Darling who sat out the dance in a far corner among some of her cousins. Those who weren’t absorbed with her where looking to Apple as she whirled with a prince she’d promised a dance to just a few feet away.

Holly might not have been the most popular princess in the room, despite that it was her own castle, but that didn’t matter. Because for now, she was dancing with Daring Charming, who was not only the most popular prince but one of her best friends, which mattered so much more. More than having strangers or royal acquaintances pandering to dance with her just because she was the princess. He liked her since before those titles meant anything to them. They hardly mattered now, either.

All that mattered was that they were together. And for as long as they had before he had to venture off to High School, her not being able to follow until the second year, she’d make these times count. Before he pledged himself as Apple’s prince and lived his fairytale destiny, she’d treasure these simple moments of having him to herself.

He was her friend. Her hero. And her first love.


End file.
